John Mayne
John Mayne (1759-1836) was a Scottish poet, printer, and journalist. Life Overview Mayne was born in Dumfries, South West Scotland. In 1780, his poem The Siller Gun appeared in its original form in Ruddiman's Magazine It is a humorous poem describing an ancient custom in Dumfries of shooting for the "Siller Gun." He He was continually adding to it, until it grew to 5 cantos. He also wrote a poem on "Hallowe'en," and a version of the ballad, "Helen of Kirkconnel." His verses were admired by Scott.John William Cousin, "Mayne, John," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 266. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 11, 2018. Youth and education Mayne was born at Dumfries, 26 March 1759. He was educated in the local grammar school.Bayne, 164. Career He became a printer in the office of the Dumfries Journal. He wrote poetry in Dumfries, and after 1777 he occasionally contributed poems to Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, Edinburgh. In 1782 he accompanied his family to Glasgow, where he was engaged for 5 years in the publishing house of the brothers Foulis. In 1787 he settled in London as a printer, and then as proprietor and joint editor, of the Star, an evening paper, in which he inserted several of his poems. Between 1807 and 1817 several of his lyrics appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine. Although expressing in verse a strong desire to revisit Dumfries, Mayne never realised his wish. He died at Lisson Grove, London, 14 March 1836. Writing Mayne's Siller Gun, descriptive of a Dumfries wapinschaw (wherein the competitors are members of the corporations, and the prize a silver cannon-shaped tube presented by James VI), consisted of 12 stanzas when it appeared in 1777. Enlarged to 2 cantos in 1779, and to 3 and 4 in 1780 and 1808 respectively, it took final shape in 5 cantos with notes in 1836. It is vivacious and humorous, conceived and worked in the spirit of Peblis to the Play. Scott considered it superior to anything of Fergusson's and approaching the excellence of Burns (note to Lady of the Lake, v. 20). Mayne's "Hallowe'en," published in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine in November 1780, probably stimulated Burns's brilliant treatment of the same theme (Chambers, Life and Work of Burns, i. 154, ed. 1851). "Logan Braes," which appeared in the Star, 23 May 1789, is a song so daintily attuned to the old Scottish spirit and manner that Burns, thinking it a vagrant of an early master, appropriated 2 of its lines in a "Logan Braes" of his own. "Glasgow," a poem of description and characterisation, published in the Glasgow Magazine in December 1783, was favorably noticed in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, i. 451, and was enlarged and issued in 1803. In the same year Mayne published a patriotic address entitled "English, Scots, and Irishmen." Publications *''The Siller Gun: A poem in five cantos''. London: T. Caddell, 1836. References . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 12, 2018. Notes External links ;Poems *"Hallowe'en" *John Mayne at AllPoetry (11 poems) ;About *John Mayne at Electric Scotland * Mayne, John Category:1759 births Category:1836 deaths Category:Scottish poets Category:Scottish journalists Category:18th-century poets Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets